1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, in general relates to wine tasting and, more particularly, to devices that facilitate the testing and comparison of wines.
The comparison of wines is an important determination to wine producers. Accordingly, wine tasters, that is people with an especially acute awareness of wine qualities, judge the attributes of many different wines. Reports in magazines, articles in various publications, and even more important, the awarding of ribbons and ranking of wines is influential in determining the sales and price of various vintage wines as well as the renown of the wine producers.
It is also important to the wine tasters themselves to be optimally able to accurately determine the subtle differences that occur between the various wines if their opinion is to be well regarded. These subtle differences include complexities and flaws that the average person is unaware of.
Currently, wine tasters use a glass to swirl the wine and sample its aroma. A sip is followed by sucking air into the mouth through pursed lips in what is commonly known as a xe2x80x9creverse whistlexe2x80x9d. The mixing of the wine with air is also sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9cvolatizing the estersxe2x80x9d, which is a more technical term of the process.
The reverse whistle aerates the wine and it is the infusion of air that helps to reveal the wine""s various complexities and also its flaws, especially the more subtle ones.
However, after thus having sampled a few different wines, the ability to differentiate naturally diminishes. Wine tasters currently cleanse the palette by either sipping water or by consuming crackers or bread between the various samplings. The more wine that is consumed the more difficult cleansing of the palette becomes. Therefore, it is clearly desirable to limit the quantity of wine that is required to be consumed so that cleansing of the palette is easier and more effective.
While it is not generally regarded as an issue, wine does include alcohol and it is conceivable also that it is desirable to reduce the quantity of alcohol (i.e., wine) that is consumed so as to ensure that the perception of the wine taster is not substantially affected by a potential increase in the blood alcohol content level.
However, aside from the quantity that is consumed there is another problem inherent in the above approach. Before aeration can occur the wine taster first must take a sip. Then the reverse whistle procedure is used to aerate the wine, as was described hereinabove.
The problem is that the reverse whistle is no longer able to aerate a pure, undistorted and undiluted sample of the wine. This is because the wine has already mixed with the saliva in the wine taster""s mouth.
The saliva affects the acidity (i.e., the pH) of the wine and accordingly, the character of the wine itself is altered before it is ever critiqued. The wine taster is discerning not the essence of the pure, original wine, but to some extent, how that particular wine reacts with the chemistry of his own saliva. This can vary from taster to taster, only increasing the subjectivity of any test result.
When the taster is looking for the most subtle of differences for a great many wine attributes, this becomes a significant obstacle. The wine is also diluted to some extent by the saliva prior to aeration and subsequent analysis. Analyzing an aerated but diluted wine sample is certainly not an optimum condition, yet this is all that the industry has had to rely upon thus far.
It is desirable to provide a device and method for tasting wines that is easy to use and inexpensive to manufacture and sell. This would permit amateur wine tasters to practice their art and improve their own ability to discern the various wines apart from each other.
Conventional straws are not used for a number of reasons, a principle one being related to sediments that accumulate at the bottom of a glass of wine. This concentration of sedimentation is to be avoided during tasting of the wine. Also, conventional straws would introduce far too much fluid for sampling.
There is a further need also and that is for aesthetics. Wine tasting is regarded much as an art form, and those who scrutinize wines regard themselves as experts in the field, artists skilled in the art of discerning subtle nuances of taste, hue, complexion, aftertaste, etc. Any device relied upon must be aesthetically appealing to the wine taster, as well as functional.
Accordingly, there exists today a need for a product and method of aerating a wine prior to tasting (i.e., sampling or critiquing) that infuses or mixes air with the wine before the wine makes contact with the saliva of the user. It is also desirable to be able to limit the quantity of wine that must be sampled.
Clearly, an apparatus that provides an aerated sample of undistorted wine would be a useful and desirable device.
2. Description of Prior Art
Wine tasting devices are not generally, known. The only known prior art device that even vaguely resembles the instant invention is known as a xe2x80x9cbombillaxe2x80x9d which the dictionary of the Spanish Academy defines as a xe2x80x9cthin tube that is used to suck the mate in America, it has about twenty centimeters long and half a centimeter of diameter and the end of the tube where the liquid is introduced is almond-like full of little holes, so that the infusion passes but not the dried leaves (yerba) of the mate.xe2x80x9d
While the structural appearance of the above described device, at first appearance, may have similarities with the present invention, it differs in material respects. These differences, which will be described in more detail hereinafter, are essential for the effective use of the invention and which admit of the advantages that are not available with the prior known device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a wine tasting straw that is inexpensive to manufacture.
It is also an important object of the invention to provide a wine tasting straw that is adapted to aerate a beverage.
Another object of the invention is to provide a wine tasting straw that is adapted to aerate a wine.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a wine tasting straw that is adapted to aerate a wine prior to the wine substantially contacting a quantity of saliva in a mouth of a user.
Still yet another object of the invention is to provide a wine tasting straw that is adapted to lessen a quantity of wine that is required for critiquing by a person skilled in the art of tasting wines.
Yet another important object of the invention is to provide a wine tasting straw that is adapted to lessen the difficulty of cleansing the palette of a person skilled in the art of tasting wines.
Still yet another important object of the invention is to provide a wine tasting straw that automatically infuses air into the fluid stream as a wine is sucked through the straw.
Still yet another important object of the invention is to provide a wine tasting straw that does not draw sediments that have accumulated at the bottom of a container into an intake fluid stream.
A still further important object of the invention is to provide a method of infusing air into a fluid stream as a fluid is being sucked through a straw.
Briefly, a wine tasting straw that is constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention has a hollow shaft with a first opening that is elevated above the bottom of the straw and is adapted for intake of a liquid (i.e., the wine). A second and smaller opening is disposed along the length of shaft and, during use, is disposed above the liquid. When a partial vacuum is created by sucking on an upper end of the straw, both wine and air are simultaneously drawn into the straw, thereby aerating the wine prior to its entry into the mouth of a taster (i.e., a user).